


Near to You

by AssoverTeakettle



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Comfort, Comfort No Hurt, M/M, Omega Andrew Minyard, Omega Neil Josten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 23:18:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14247927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssoverTeakettle/pseuds/AssoverTeakettle
Summary: Neil has never had a pleasant heat experience with a life on the road, running from the mob, the countless identities, and living day to day. Needless to say Neil doesn't expect it to be any better in the dorms. Thankfully, Andrew's a more grounding presence than people give him credit for and he's more than enough of a safe harbor for Neil.





	Near to You

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoy A/B/O quite a bit but I get tired of all the non-existent consent. That part of the trope felt especially wrong for Neil and Andrew so this fic is exploring their relationship with that in mind. There is no sex in this, it's all about fluff and working with boundaries. :)

The last time Neil had a full heat he’d been shivering in the back seat of some car his mother had hijacked between Portland and the coast.

It had smelled of drugs and urine, the fake leather ripped and duct-taped together so many times it had left ridges and ripples like alligator hide that tore at his skin and dug into his sides. To avoid that and the gaping exposure of 360 windows, Neil had wedged himself into the space between the front seats and the back, shoulders jammed against the footboards, knees resting cock-eyed against the cushions. 

Like all of Neil’s heats, it had been dry. Just waves of overwhelming fire through his hips and up through his throat, swelling his glands and sending shuddering cramps through the rest of him. 

Everyone said that a good heat with a loving partner was one of the best feelings in the world. 

Neil wouldn’t know. It had always been just him and his mother, exposed in a car on the go, full of need and no desire to fill it. 

Most of what Neil remembered about the few heats he’d had was the desperation of it, the need for things he couldn’t have. He remembered tasting his own sour breath as he panted, feeling as though he’d been skinned and left exposed to everything around him. And all he’d really wanted was a single safe place to curl up and sleep forever. 

The only thing that had been remotely comforting had been his mother’s scent. 

For a beta she’d had a stronger signature, a bracing presence in the car given the acrid bitterness of his own heat-scent. She cut through it enough to remind him where he was, keep him more present than he would have been otherwise. Keep him from throwing up in the backseat or worse, crying.

Neil still wasn’t sure if being present had been better or worse. The bone deep aching in his hips, the burning heat of it, and the terrified thunder of his heart, exposed and more alone than he had ever thought possible. 

Neil had spent the four days crammed in the footwell, his mother driving with the windows rolled down along whatever deserted country highways she could find. When they stopped for gas or food she locked Neil in the car with the windows up. 

Mostly, Neil remembered it as a sick haze. 

When it had been over his mother had burned the car and all of the clothes they’d been wearing as soon as she could. 

She’d put him on some harder blockers immediately after and he’d never been off them since.

* * *

Andrew was only a little surprised that Boyd noticed first.

“Do you think he’s nesting?”

Normally, Andrew found that kind of hesitancy instant cause for disdain but for once, Matt was right. Neil was, as always, a little tangential to the norm.

Neil had been vacillating between a mile-wide territorial streak and a strange withdrawn anxiety for days. Little things that might normally be brushed off were piling up and shaping into warning signs. Things like snapping at unannounced or uninvited visitors, even Dan and Nicki, and Nicki lived in their shared dorm. Other times, Neil had taken to entering Fox living spaces and quietly watching whoever was in the space for minutes at a time, pale eyes tracking each of them at some point until something unwound in the set of his spine and he left again, padding back to his own dorm. 

Andrew and Matt both watched Neil as he walked out into the shared kitchen for the third time, hands clenching unclenching in sharp jerks and flutters, like he couldn’t decide what to touch or with how much force.

* * *

The room Neil shared with Andrew and Kevin felt too big. The windows too wide the beds too open. Suddenly, Neil hated his top bunk. It had never bothered him before.

 _You weren’t going into heat before,_ Neil viciously reminded himself. _This is going to be awful. You should look into those heat rooms they have in the basement level._

Neil shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself. 

Just the thought of those sterile heat-boxes made Neil feel nauseous and trapped. It would be Lola and the car trunk all over again. No, he couldn’t. He should, for Andrew and Kevin if no one else. But he couldn’t. 

The rest of the day was a blur as Neil wandered around, ignoring his stomach cramps, the hot and cold flashes and the increasing paranoia.

_Fuck._

By the time the sun was setting, Neil was losing serious time.

He came back to himself when Andrew entered the room behind him.

It didn’t take Andrew long to survey the situation, nostrils flared and eyes sharp. He didn’t miss the haphazard attempt at a nest poking over the top of Neil’s bunk and he definitely didn’t miss the angry way it had been torn apart half-way through and scattered on the floor. 

Andrew didn’t say anything for a long time, he just stood there and breathed. Almost naturally, Neil’s breathing slowed to match.

After a few minutes, Andrew said, “Nicki and Kevin are staying with Wymack for a few days. Aaron’s with Katelyn.” 

Neil swallowed hard, his fingers digging crescents into his arms. 

“Sorry.”

Andrew gave him a sharp look and said nothing. 

The silence stretched until Neil was pacing the length of the dorm, hands gripping his arms so tight his knuckles creaked. He didn’t even notice that he was biting his lips until Andrew stepped in front of him and placed his hand on his cheek, thumb pressing soft but firm on the swell of Neil’s lower lip.

Andrew’s eyes were steady on him, demanding. “Stop that.”

Neil’s breath left him in a whoosh, “I can’t help it,” he said and winced. He already sounded like he’d been screaming. 

Andrew raised an eyebrow. 

Neil let Andrew settle him again, listing into the hand on his cheek like a lifeline. Andrew was a solid anchor, he always was.

When Neil’s grip on himself was looser and his breathing deeper Andrew nudged him back.

Neil went, uncomplaining until his knees hit Andrew’s bunk below his own. “What--?”

“Sit.”

Neil sat, wide-eyed.

Andrew watched him until he was sure he wouldn’t be pacing again. “Stay,” he said and pointed to the bed before walking back out. 

When Andrew came back minutes later he dumped an armful of scattered clothes on top of Neil’s lap before sitting beside him on the bed, phone out and fiddling with something. 

All the clothing smelled like his teammates. 

Voice held back in his throat, thick, Neil tugged an oversized sweater out of the pile. It smelled of Matt. 

“They do know that I’ll destroy these right?”

Andrew didn’t even bother to look up from his phone, “They were donated.”

* * *

Contrary to what everyone probably assumed, Andrew did not spend Neil’s heat with him. Neil knew Andrew was near throughout the whole ordeal, he could smell him in the air, knew he opened the door to check on Neil every few hours, refilled the water and brought food, occasionally herded him into a shower, but beyond that Andrew kept his distance. 

On the worst night of his heat, Neal remembers the feel of Andrew’s hands on his back, supporting him even then. 

Neil couldn’t help but feel grateful. Neither of them was ready for this but it meant everything to know that he was still close.

* * *

On the fifth morning Neil dragged himself out of the bedroom, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. 

The apartment smelled like the foxes, constant lingering touches of sweaty exy gear and the small tell-tale notes that identified them. Neil shuffled out to the kitchen and got the coffee maker going, one deliberate step at a time. Allison and Renee had brushed up against the counter in the last few days, Allison sharp and challenging and Renee a quiet but overpowering presence in comparison once you noticed her. Matt and Nicky were both softer, soap and sweat there and gone. 

Kevin and Aaron were faded notes, gone during his heat but still present.

Pouring himself a cup of coffee Neil took a deep breath and let it out slow and steady. Everywhere around him, the almost invisible scent of Andrew lingered. It reminded Neil of Columbia, right after the championship. It reminded him of the cabin in the mountains, raw cedar and pine with nicotine. 

When Neil came around the island to the living area Andrew was sitting on the couch reading in the sunlight streaming through the windows. 

With his head bowed over the book, Andrew was all clean lines and warm golds, his skin so pale it shone in the light. 

The shadow of his jaw was a purple blue. Neil’s fingers itched to reach out and rest in that space. 

Andrew flicked his eyes up, taking in Neil from head to foot. He didn’t say anything but Neil knew enough of him to know better. Shrugging from under the blanket Neil shared a flickering smile.

Andrew nodded and turned back to his book, apparently satisfied that Neil was in one piece.

“Andrew, yes or no?”

The muscles in Andrew’s shoulders tensed and he looked at Neil very carefully. 

“Not...not for anything like that,” Neil winced and picked at the fluff on the blanket, eyes on his shoulder and hands, “Just...I...”

Neil couldn’t finish. 

He swallowed. 

“I just wanted to sit for a while.”

The silence that followed was long but less frigidly hostile. When Neil met Andrew’s gaze it was considering.

Andrew patted the cushion next to him, “Sit.”

Neil sat, relief loosening his shoulders and easing the aches that radiated from his hips and back. 

Andrew looked at him, drumming the fingers of his left hand on his thigh.

Neil just sat and waited for Andrew to decide. 

Finally, with a dry huff, Andrew reached over and gripped the back of Neil’s neck, fingers careful on the swollen scent glands on either side. With a gentle tug he hauled Neil sideways until he was curled on his side, head and cheek resting on Andrew’s thigh. 

Andrew’s musky scent was stronger like this, clean sweat and nicotine. The anxiety Neil had carried all week swelled and burst like a bubble, disappearing like fine mist as Andrew kept his grip on Neil, thumbs and fingers gently massaging at the stiff column of his neck. 

Neil had no idea what sound he made as he collapsed into Andrew’s grip, but it was enough that Andrew paused and turned to look down at him. As boneless as Andrew’s touch was making him Neil still noticed as he sniffed the air. 

Whatever Andrew was looking for he found. Neil could feel Andrew’s quiet snort and the slow uncoiling of his body as he finally relaxed into the sofa and Neil. 

With Andrew’s familiar hands holding him steady and the smoky scent of him that sang of safety, Neil drifted off.

* * *

When he opened his eyes next Neil could hear and smell other foxes in the dorm now. 

Nicky’s fruity sugary shampoo and Matt and Kevin’s stronger cologne never quite covered up the lingering touch of sweat and Exy gear. 

At some point, Neil must have moved in his sleep. Now he was wrapped around Andrew. He’d flipped over and buried his nose near Andrew’s stomach, he could feel the soft fibers of his sweater against his face, and his arms had naturally wound around Andrew’s sides to rest at his back. Neil took a second to appreciate that Andrew must be in a fantastic mood to have allowed this at all. 

Neil nudged his cheek down, tilting his nose further into Andrew’s stomach, the smell of him rich and soft as his sweater. 

Somewhere Neil could hear something vibrating.

Briefly, Neil considered investigating. Briefly. Whatever it was, if Andrew wasn’t worried about it then Neil definitely wasn’t going to bother. Everything still hurt and this at least was safe and easy. With a soft sigh, Neil settled down again, nuzzling into Andrew. 

From behind him Neil heard Nicky squeal, “Oh my god, that’s so cute! Can you hear that? Augh I’m gonna cry!”

With a quiet grunt Neil curled around Andrew a little tighter. He groaned, “Nicky…”

Neil could feel Andrew sigh, exasperation in the rhythm of it. Without fanfare, Andrew reached over Neil and shifted until he could prop his book on Neil’s shoulder, one hand holding it there, the other reaching down to tangle in the mussed bedhead on the back of Neil’s neck. 

With the still book on his shoulder, Neil realized with something like shock, that he was the one vibrating. Purring. 

It was a dry rusty rattle from under his ribs and he’d never heard it before. 

Neil had heard a few other omega’s purring, a self-soothing instinct that promoted healing and well being. 

_Oh._

No matter how ridiculous Nicky’s fawning became Andrew didn’t move and he didn’t permit Neil to feel uncomfortable either, he just continued to gently run his thumb back and forth on the back of Neil’s nape, from one scent gland to another. Firm enough to be relaxing, not arousing. 

With only a few starts and stops in his ribs, Neil settled down again, closing his eyes and breathing deep. 

From where Neil lay, ear to Andrew’s stomach, looking up at his clean jaw and his golden eyes, Neil could feel more than hear, another soft purr.


End file.
